Appliance for releasing boats.



-G. 'L. BEVINS. APPLIANCE FOR RBLEASING BOATS. A'rrnronlon. I'ILBD 11011.22, 19.07.

will! luv lil il:

ATTORNEYS i rammed Sept. 29, 1908.

PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES LOVATT BEVINS, OF JAMES'IOWN, RHODE ISLAND.

APPLIANCE non nnnnnsme BOATS.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Se t. 29, 1908.

Application filed November 22,1907. Serial No. 403,257.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, CHARLES LOVATT BEVINS, a subject of theKing of Great Britain, and a resident of Jamestown, in the count of Newport and State of .Rhode Islan have invented a new and Improved A pliance for Releasing Boats, of which the f0 lowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention isan improvement in ap liances for releasing life and other boats r0111 the davits of vessels, docks and other elevated places, and has for an object the provision of means operable to simultaneously disconnect both the bow and the stern of the boat, whereby the danger of launching is materially diminished.

The invention further resides incertain novel features of construction hereinafter particularly described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming'a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference vertica section.

indicate corresponding parts in all" the views.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view throughthe hull of a life boat, showing my appliance applied thereto; Fig. 2 is aside e evation of t e operating-lever and adjacent parts on an enlarged scale; Fig. 3 is a face view of one of the devices for suspendin and releasing the boat, illustrating the 00k members thereof in closed 'osition; Fig. 4 is a like view with the hook members open; and Fig.- 5 is a fragmentary view of a pair of the op osed hook members partly in central M ap liance is a lied to any boat which is to be siispended f iin the davits of avessel or raised to other elevated ositions, the boat shown being an ordinary 1i eboat 10, and the preferred practical construction of the appliance including an operating mechanism consisting of a hand-lever 11 fulcrumed to and traversing a toothed are 12, the latter being preferably positionednear the stern of the boat. The lever 11 is locked in any p0- sltion within the limits of the teeth of the are, by an ordinary latching mechanism consisting of atooth-engaging latch 13 and a connecting handle 14, the latter being adjacent to the lever handle.

'At the opposite ends of the boat is placed a suspending and releasing device, shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, and consisting of. two opposed hook members 15, fulcrumed to an attaching-plate 16 on the pins or pivots 17, the arms of said members being extended below the pivots where they are provided with slots concentric thereto, which are engaged by. pins -18 operating to limit the pivotal movement of the hookmembers in each direction. The inner edges or faces of the hook members 15 are shaped to conform to the opposed faces of an operatingtongue 19 when the latter is in a'retracted position, as shown in Fig. 3. The tongue, it will be observed, is concave at the oppo site sides, and has V-shaped projections 20- at its bottom, diverging outwardly, and adapted to engage corresponding notches 20 formed in the hook members, and force the latter to a closed and locked position, whereby an inclosed opening'21 is produced, through which may be passed the hook of the tackle block, as shown in Fig. 1. The hook members are held against relative lateral displacement when forced together by the tongue, by a conical projection 22 which extends from the free end of one of said members into a counterpart recess formed in the other, as shown in Fig. 5. The tongue 19 is rigid with an operatingrod or bar 23, connecting therewith intermediate the pro'ections 20, and attached at its opposite en to one of the arms of the operating-lever 11; the rod 23 from the opposite sus ending and releasingdevicebeing connecte to the other arm of the operatinglever at the opposite side of the levers point of fulcrum. The rods 23 pass through casings or tubings 24, which conform and are attached to the keel or planking of the boat and extend to near the lower ends of [the hook members 15, as shown in Figs.- 3 and 4. Above these tubes 24 the rods 23 are confined between the.attaching-plates and keepers 25, the latter being secured by the pivot-pins 17 and at oints' therebelow to the opposite sides oi the attach in -plate.

n the operation of the appliance as the boat is lowered to the water and launched,

the operating-lever is disengaged from the toothed arc and thrown to one side to simultaneously project the tongues of the releasing and suspending devices, which operate to force the hook members apart, as shown in Fig. 4, and thereby instantaneously free both the bow and stern of the boat, thus reducing the danger of launching to a inini'mum.

' The invention as shown and described \\'llll being the preferred construction and application of my improved appliance, the same may, hmvever, be modified in particulars withoutdeparting from the nature of the invention as defined in the claims annexed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1;. In a boat-releasing appliance,-two opposed pivoted hook members having extended slot-ted arms, m fians engaging the slots of said arms for limiting the pivotal movement of said members, and means independent of the slots in the arms and their engaging means for swinging said members on their pivots.

2. In a boat-releasing appliance, a tongue having concave opposite edges and provided with V-shaped projections extending from the bottom thereof, and opposed pivoted hook members arranged at the opposite sides of the tongue, having notches adapted to engage with the projections of the tongue, said members conforming to the concave opposite edges of the tongue when said projections are engaged.

3. A boat having opposed hook members arranged at the opposite ends thereof, a fulcrumed operating-lever carried by the boat, and tongues movable between said members for forcing them apart and locking them together, and having means connecting them with the operating lever at the opposite sides of its fulcrum.

4. In adevice of the character described, two opposed pivoted hook members, and a tongue movable between said members having means rigid thermvith for locking the members together and forcing them apart.

5. In a device of the character described, a tongue having V-shaped projections extending from the bottom thereof, and opposed pivoted hook members arranged at the opposite sides of the tongue having notches adapted to engage with the projections of the tongue.

6. A boat having opposed hook members arranged at the opposite ends thereof, tongues movable between said members for forcing them apart and locking them together, a rod rigid with each tongue, and means for simultaneously shifting the rods in opposite directions longitudinally of the boat.

7. In a device of the character described, two pivoted hook members curved toward each other at their free ends, one of which is provided with a projection at its extremity rigid therewith and ada )ted to enter a recess in the free end of the other member and prevent relative lateral movement between the members.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES LOVATT BEV INS. l/Vitnesses:

MAX LEVY, WM. P. SHEFFIELD, Jr. 

